20 Enemies
by ina-meishou
Summary: Twenty thoughts from Terry's head.


1. In a way, Blight is even more Terry's first than Dana ever could be. Of all the enemies he ever fought, Blight was singularly his creation, his problem. Every time he looks at that sickly green, he remembers that if he hadn't been so damned stupid, the world would have one less monster.

It's what fuels his constant, quiet war with Bruce and Barbara.

2. Coe is among the arguments Bruce likes to trot out whenever they start to fight over morality. Ever since the Jokerz left him laying on that rooftop, he hasn't once worn the makeup. The first time he shows up in Terry's classroom, it's a shock. When he turns out to be a decent student, and a pretty good guy, it gets worse.

3. Terry can't think of J-Man as anything but pathetic. He's heard the horror stories from Bruce and Barbara. He's watched some of the records stored on the Batcom. He knows the Joker, probably better than most anyone alive.

J-Man is not Joker, he's not even close.

4. Out of all the Jokerz Terry knows of, the Dee Dee's are the only ones he can think of who really are just in it for the laughs.

They're also the only ones to date to manage capturing him.

While they didn't get the suit open, and refused to untie him until morning, they still managed to show him a truly excellent time.

Bruce still won't let him forget it, and even though Terry now has to clean the batsuit himself, he's not sure he wants to.

5. Stalker isn't a criminal in the sense Terry is used to dealing with. He's not in it for the money, or for the fun, or just because.

Stalker does what he does to see if he can. It's a test of will that Terry can respect, even as he exerts his own to surviving.

6. Inque is among Terry's greatest shames. He's thought long and hard, run countless simulations on the batcom, and spent hours reworking every aspect of their fights in his head.

He's still not sure what will take her down for good.

7. Terry rarely hated himself as much as when he saw what juvie had done to Willie Watt. The nice kid he remembers isn't much different from the big, friendly young man that came out.

But when he finally tracks down Mech, he see's what's really behind that easy smile.

8. Shriek is Terry's nightmare. Sound is a part of his life like breathing is, and the thought of losing his hearing is terrifying beyond almost anything he's felt.

He can't bring himself to resent the sound tech's hatred.

9. Ten, and Terry can't really think of her as Melanie anymore, tear's Terry in two every time he sees her working at the café down the street. He isn't sure what she is to him, but he can't bring himself to stop talking to her.

10. Spellbinder is on the very short list of people that Terry has sworn to kill as soon as he gets the chance to do it quietly.

11. Terry isn't sure why Curare decided to retire from the assassin's life. He just wishes she'd left a less dangerous parting gift.

He doesn't even know how to use a regular scimitar, much less the monstrosity she tried to kill him with.

12. Cuvier has the distinction of being the criminal Terry most agrees with. In Terry's view, there's nothing wrong with splicing itself, people are just afraid of it.

It's another thing he fights with his mentors over.

13. Earthmover sickens Terry. He's doesn't have a daughter, but he tries to think of it like he would Tamara. He's not sure how anyone could want to trap someone they care about underneath a radioactive waste dump.

He hopes he never learns how.

14. Though Bruce refuses to admit to it, Terry thinks that Victor Fries is the only man he knows who shares Bruce's sense of loss. Both of them killed everything they were in a quest for vengeance.

He still can't get Bruce to agree to meet the man.

15. The worst thing about Terry's short conflict with Ra's Al Guhl is that he was actually attracted to the body the man inhabited.

No, perhaps the worst part is really that even now, knowing what lurked behind Talia's face, he still can't stop thinking she was hot.

16. Dr. Wheeler is Terry's first cold blooded kill. He refuses to regret it.

17. In Armory, Terry has found a strange sort of kinship. Both of them are simply men, in a world filled with genetic mutations and monstrous accidents, they are normal humans who dare to flourish.

18. Mad Stan is a mystery. Terry has yet to find any trace of where he gets his weapons, or his money. Bruce hasn't had any more luck. All Terry knows is that someone has to be funding him, and someone twisted him into the mass of rage and unfocused hate he is today.

He just can't figure out who.

19. Terry isn't sure what he expected to find on the Kobra Airship. All he knows is that it certainly wasn't Zander. He _knew _Zander, better than he knew anyone else from Kairi's class. He _liked _Zander, he was probably one of the best male friends he had.

It was an unpleasant reminder.

20. Years before Terry met Bruce, he ran with Big Time and the Boyz. They weren't ever anything big like the Jokerz or the Ts, but they were family, of a sort. Every time he catches his old friend's on the job, his heart hardens just a little more.


End file.
